Although environmental tax reforms (ETR) tend to improve incomes across society, they can have mild regressive impacts in that richer households gain more than poorer ones. Care is needed to design ETRs in ways that ensure that certain groups are able to benefit equally. ETR's overall benefits for the economy, environment and society are potentially significant. ETR should therefore be regarded as a key element in the policymaking toolkit for shifting to a green economy.

Green innovation for sustainable development.
The European Union’s environmental technologies industry is a promising industrial sector with a vast potential for growth. At present it employs more than 2 million people across the Union and has a market value of roughly €200 billion. The EU is a leading supplier of environmental technologies in the world, representing about one-third of the global market for these technologies. It is for their environmental benefits but also for their contribution to economic growth that the European Commission is actively promoting the development and the uptake of environmental technologies.

Resource efficiency — the relationship of resource inputs to economic output — is essential to sustain and enhance the wellbeing of current and future generations. It is a core element in creating a 'green economy' in Europe and elsewhere.

In support of the 2011 'Environment for Europe' Ministerial Conference in Astana, EEA has prepared Europe's environment — An Assessment of Assessments (EE-AoA). This report provides a comprehensive overview of available sources of environmental information across the region which directly relate to the themes in focus at the Conference, water and related ecosystems, and green economy.

Map shows spatial distribution and intensity of land take for urban and other artificial land (lcf2 Urban residential sprawl + lcf3 Sprawl of economic sites and infrastructures) over particular territory in 2000 - 2006.

Clean water is a natural resource vital not only for life on Earth but also for the wellbeing of our societies and economy. However, in many parts of Europe, this valuable resource is coming under increasing pressure, often seen in the form of over-exploitation and pollution.

Reliable, relevant, targeted and
timely environmental information is
an essential element in implementing
environmental policy and management
processes. Such information can come
in many formats — with indicators
being a long-established approach
to distilling detailed information into
trends that are robust and easily
understandable by a broad audience.